Pug Life.

What a difference some sunshine makes. Being able to go for a walk with the sun shining and a slight hint of warmth on my skin makes all the difference to my mood. So that's what we did yesterday. We bundled the dogs and ourselves into the car and headed to some woods nearby for a wander.

We got stuck in the mud, saw dozens of other dogs, not to mention a man being pulled along on a bicycle by two huskies, and Lily and Lola had a good sniff around. It's not often Lily and Lola get to explore new places as they can't walk for very far, so they had a great time barking at other dogs and letting mummy carry them over the mud!

Today has been a lazy day, the best kind of day. Although we did go to the cinema this afternoon armed with a secret stash of sweets and biscuits to see Hitchcock, which I really enjoyed. Jonathan hasn't seen Psycho and the film is based around that time of Hitchcock's life so we hope to watch it next week or next weekend. It's one of my favourites!

Also I have consumed so much carb-tastic food, Mini Eggs, biscuits and cups of tea in the past 2 days (no, make that 2 weeks) that I declare tomorrow the start of actually registering what I put in my mouth!

Hope you all had a good one.

It is indeed!

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Navel Gazing by Anne H Putnam.

As I have been getting into reading lately in a big way, when I was offered the opportunity to review a book* I thought "brilliant". I had another book to finish first, but once that was completed I got started on Navel Gazing straight away. 

The subject matter really intrigued me, being about weight loss, gastric band surgery and one woman's perspective on size, shape, finding confidence and dealing with body changes. I have never been obese but I was once slightly overweight (in BMI standards anyway) so I expected the book to be something I would enjoy reading and find interesting and maybe useful too.

I knew it would be a different kind of book to the usual "chick lit" I tend to favour, with it being fact as opposed to fiction, but I didn't really prepare myself for disliking parts of the book and struggling to finish it.

What did I like about the book?

I liked the honest and open account of gastric band surgery, why Anne opted to have the surgery at 17 years old and the process she had to go through. I learnt a lot about why someone would choose to go down that route and what is involved with the surgery as well as the aftercare which affects what you eat and the way you eat for the rest of your life.

I enjoyed the beginning of the book when Anne describes growing up and her relationship with food i.e. having a healthy, dieting mother which meant sneaking treats as opposed to being able to enjoy them openly.

What did I dislike about the book?

The book was repetitive, often describing the same experiences over and over again without going into much detail.

The writer was so full of self loathing for her body that it became really frustrating as a reader. It was relentlessness and repetitive throughout the book so it was difficult to connect with the author.

I felt like there was something missing from the book. I wanted to know more about certain times of Anne's life and, as mentioned above, some areas were repeated which meant the book didn't flow.

I thought the book would be more of a "journey" ending with less self hatred and a bit more positivity.

Would I recommend this book?

If you want to know about gastric band surgery or you're interested in the surgery yourself then there are sections of the book which would be useful to you. If you're looking for an inspirational read then I'd leave this one on the shelf.

* this book was sent to me, for free, to review. As you can see my reviews are always 100% honest!

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Decoupage bunting.

When I shared my latest craft project on Instagram I received some great comments and questions so I thought I would take a few more photos of my bunting in action.

Decoupage is so easy (that's why I like it!) which means it's a craft anyone can do, including kids. It's quick and messy and you get to peel glue off your fingers afterwards. Who doesn't love to do that?!

Decoupage is a way of decorating different surfaces using scraps of paper and glue. The special "Decopatch" papers can be quite expensive which is why I think places like Fired Arts in Sheffield are a great idea as you just need to pay a studio fee, pick your item with one sheet of paper included, then they have boxes of scraps in all colours and sizes that you can use for your project. You can also purchase additional individual sheets if you wish, instead of a whole pack.

I'm sure there would be something similar in your local area if you fancied giving it a go. Fired Arts offer a mixture of pottery painting, decoupage and mosaic making so there's a little bit of something for everyone/all skill levels.

You can cover pretty much anything you like when it comes to decoupage. Before Christmas I covered a pottery bird in red and green scraps of paper to make a festive tree decoration. I recently covered a paper mache 'V' letter in a fun blue/multicoloured hearts design. I also have several wooden chairs in our spare room which are crying out to be covered!

I find it quite therapeutic and much more satisfying than other types of crafting such as cross stitching which is a much slower process. It's also easy so you can have a brew and a good chin-wag while you're doing it.

You can buy shapes and letters from Hobbycraft (although I don't think the selection at my local branch is very good) as well as a multitude of online shops and Ebay. They're pretty cheap and range in size from teeny tiny to humongous.You can also cover pottery items such as decorations, trinket boxes, money boxes and photo frames to name a few.

Happy crafting! If you do give this a go don't blame me for your new found addiction ;)

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Loving lately.

As it's Valentine's Day I thought that instead of declaring my love for my boyfriend (I'm sure by now you all know I think Jonathan is pretty wonderful) and cooing over photos of Lily and Lola, who I also love dearly, I'd tell you what else I'm loving at the moment.

♥ The Sorry Girls on You Tube. Before I found The Sorry Girls I would often watch You Tube videos but would find it hard to find channels with enough of a mixture of the things I like. Well, it seems that amazing DIY videos, home interiors, a cute hedgehog named Harley and two lovely Canadian girls are my cup of tea!

♥ Blogging and blogs. I really love writing a blog and the times I have thought about stopping in the 3 1/2 years I have been writing Lily loves Lola have been few and far between. I'm lucky in that I receive such positive, kind comments and it makes it even more worthwhile knowing that my blog posts can be helpful or even inspirational to others.

In terms of reading blogs I am trying to make more time to comment and find new blogs. I particularly like lifestyle blogs with a mixture of beauty, clothes and day-to-day life stuff but I also like craft blogs and fitness blogs too. A handful of my current favourites are A Rosie Outlook, Love Audrey, junkaholique, The Pampered Sparrow, Trinket Box, the glue gun girl and the tea drinking english rose which was one of the first blogs I ever found and followed many moons ago.

Other things I'm currently loving: my new Primark hoodie / my meerkat / reading / drinking tea out of cute mugs / treating myself to beauty purchases

♥ Making good progress with my resolutions for 2013. One of my goals was to see more of my parents. Since the new year I have seen my parents several times whether it was just popping round for a cup of tea, going out for dinner or sleeping over for a night or two. There's something about staying overnight and having my meals made for me which makes me feel 15 again, and I quite like it.

Another item on my list, and quite a huge task, was getting photos printed. It makes me sad at solely storing photos on the computer or on my phone, and I'd hate to be a Grandma and not have albums of photos to share with my family.

I have spent hours upon hours sifting through photos, deciding which ones to get printed, uploading them to Photo Box, seeking out special offers and discount codes to make it that little bit cheaper, and buying scrapbooks, pens and photo corners ready for some major sticking and note-writing once the photos arrive.

It has been a huge task so far but once it's done it will be worthwhile and something I can continue to do going forward.

♥ Music. I am currently loving the Fun album (especially this), The Lumineers (particularly this song), The Vaccines (all of their stuff but this is my favourite), good old She & Him (this song/video combo will always be the one I adore the most. I don't know how much JGL has to do with that), as well as Doppio Music who I listen to on Sound Cloud.

♥ Reading. My love for reading is still going strong, aided by my Kindle Fire HD but also by the great finds in my local charity shops. I just finished Don't Tell The Groom by Anna Bell as well as a book sent to me for review, which will be published on here shortly.

As it's Valentine's Day and I'm a sucker for anything cute I wanted to share this video and I strongly urge you to watch it. It could melt even the stoniest of hearts!

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HAPPY MARDI GRAS!!!!

Happy Mardi Gras to everyone!  The weather here is awful and I'm not going to the parade today.  It's a good thing I went to a night parade a couple of days ago when the weather was nice. 

I invited a friend Carolyn and her dog Prince to go with us in the RV to the parade.  We parked as close to the street as we could in a shopping center parking lot and had a good view of the parade route.  Opened up the slide and had lots of room for the doggies to play.  I brought a pizza and beer and other snacks and we enjoyed munching down while waiting for the parade.  We were in a well lit area and right next to a Daiquiri Shop.

Carolyn had a friend who was riding in the parade and we waited for her float to arrive and walked to the street so she could get a special throw from her friend.  It was a little chilly and I didn't wear my coat so today I'm having a relapse of my sore throat.  But Carolyn did get a nice necklace and we both caught bags of necklaces thrown our way.  I especially like the rubber footballs that were thrown.  These are great to use for outdoor doggie toys for the back yard.  Carolyn got 2 of those and gave them to me.

It was a great time and I'm glad we attended that night parade because today there is 80% chance of rain.  We'll be staying in and enjoying our fireplace... unless I have to go out to buy more Nyquil ;-)

My Mardi Gras girls.

Those are baby shirts bought at WalMart and unsnapped for the doggies.

My Cha Bu giving me a look and asking why was I holding her back.  She just can't keep still for one minute.

Prince and Carolyn

Heating up the pizza.

Photos I don't want my doctor to see... ;-) 

Pizza and beer... my favorite foods.

Prince getting into the Mardi Gras spirit wearing my feather boa.

This is how it looked when we left the coach to go to the street.  I was surprised that Cha Bu climbed up onto the dashboard.

We were in an area that was roped off so not many folks in front of us... however, the street was crowded. 

My favorite float... featuring Andrew Jackson and the Battle of New Orleans.

Here are our darlings patiently waiting for our return.

That's Cha Bu sitting on her front seat bed and Prince on the sofa.

They were very well behaved and we all enjoyed the night out.

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